Prologue to Courtship
by ScarletCourt
Summary: Since Mike and Connie have been working day and night on Woll's convictions, things are coming to a head. How that resolves from two POVs. Set in late December of S20. This is the Prologue to my Mike/Connie story, The Courtship of Mike and Connie.
1. Prologue: Connie

**A/N:** Back after an incredibly busy fall. Does not help that there's a holiday/birthday celebration at least every two weeks in the fall for me. I think I've come to the conclusion that I'm a winter/spring/early summer writer simply due to the time available. Enough about me. This is the prologue to my story, _The Courtship of Mike and Connie_, from Connie's point of view. Part two of this prologue will be from Mike's point of view. I did attempt to write just one version of the story, but there was too much skipping back and forth to keep who was thinking what to keep straight so I decided to break it in two. When you read chapter two - Mike's POV, it will be evident that it was almost two different stories of the same event. Many Thanks to my beta, Tripp3235, who despite her own busy schedule, proofed the chapters in short order.

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. All Law and Order characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just playing with them.

**Offices of the District Attorney, One Hogan Place, Monday, December 28**

Connie comes into work after three days off and nothing has changed between her and Mike. He's already at his desk when she puts her coffee and briefcase down on hers. When she goes into his office to say good morning, he looks up from the legal briefs in front of him and she can feel the same energy in the air that was there when she had left early in the afternoon on Christmas Eve.

Looking at him, she remembers the feel of his hand on hers as he wished her a Merry Christmas that afternoon. He had reached for her hand just before she left, and for her, time stood still as they looked into each other's eyes as he said, "Merry Christmas, Connie." She felt that he was going to kiss her until they heard another office door close in another part of the DA's office and the moment was broken. She then quickly wished him a Merry Christmas, said goodbye hastily before nearly running out of the building, almost afraid of what might have happened had they not been interrupted. After all, he was still her boss and there would be repercussions if things didn't work out.

She spent the last three days in a bit of a daze. She had a good time at Christmas dinner and she stayed overnight at her parents' place to help clean up after everyone else went back to their respective homes with their families, but whenever she closed her eyes, the image of Mike saying, "Merry Christmas, Connie" would pop in her head. Saturday night, she even took a sleep aid to get some shut eye but she didn't want to have to do that again last night and hence she's subsisting on coffee this morning.

This whole thing has been slowly building since Jack assigned them to work on Marcus's convictions after his trial. With her growing attraction toward Mike becoming stronger by the day, the whole situation is coming to a head and Connie is feeling a little out of control of the situation.

"Good Morning," says Connie as she leans on his door frame trying her best to be nonchalant. "I, um, have a couple of arraignments at nine o'clock. Are we resuming Woll work after I get back?" There is no court outside of arraignments this week so it is an opportunity to catch up on some paperwork.

He looks at her and she can see that like her, he hasn't had much sleep, but at least she can cover it up with make up. "Good Morning," says Mike with a smile. "Sounds like a plan. Have a good holiday with your family?"

Connie smiles back and says, "My sister came up from Miami, so it was nice to see all the nieces and nephews. Good holiday for you?"

"Hmm. The usual," says Mike looking back at the legal brief in front of him, being non-committal.

"See you later then," says Connie hoping that there was something to keep her there.

"Later," says Mike as she walks back to her desk to get ready.

The office is mostly empty as those with families tended to take this time off, even Jack is in Florida this week to visit his daughter and grandbaby. There's only minimal staff to answer phones to make it seem like the DA's office is still running. Aside from the phone staff, anyone else there is someone who wants to catch up before things start up again in the new year.

After Connie gathers the files she needs for the arraignments, she puts on her coat and heads off to court.

* * *

When Connie comes back, Mike is still in the same position she left him in earlier. She isn't sure whether he's still looking at the same brief or not, but he is still holding the same pen.

Looking up, he asks, "How did they go?"

Connie shrugs and says, "One was ROR and the other was a remand. Ready for Woll work?"

"Give me five minutes to finish up this thing for the Edwards case and we can meet in conference room D. No one is going to be using them this week. We might as well spread out our work."

"OK," says Connie. "I'll set up my laptop there and then I'll come back to help you with the boxes." They had gotten through about half of the 50 or so boxes of material for appeals that have come to the DA's office since his arrest in October. They expect a few more to come still as they cannot account for all 102 convictions.

When Connie goes back to his office, Mike has just picked up a box. As he hands it to her, their fingers accidentally brush and the static electricity that passes between them is so intense that it causes Connie nearly to drop the box and involuntarily gasp.

"Sorry. Are you alright?" Mike asks. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, no," says Connie. "It's just a little static electricity and the box is a little heavier than I had expected."

Concerned, Mike asks, "Do you need help? Maybe you should take this lighter one."

"No, it's OK," says Connie with a smile. "I can manage." Connie steadies herself and walks to the conference room with Mike right behind her.

After putting their boxes down on the table beside Connie's laptop, they start to walk back. Connie is massaging the hand that Mike had touched and Mike asks, "Are you sure you're OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. How many more boxes did we want to bring to the conference room?"

"I think one more box should be sufficient for today and I'll bring my laptop."

_It's the same hand he touched that afternoon. I wonder what caused the spark? His office doesn't have carpet?_ Looking at her hand, Connie doesn't see a mark, but she can still feel the tingle in her spine from it.

"Connie?" asks Mike who was looking at her intently from behind his desk. They are back in his office. Connie has been lost in her thoughts and didn't realize she had followed Mike.

"Huh?"

"I asked you whether you wanted to bring the box or my laptop," says Mike as he is closing the laptop and unhooking it from the docking station.

"I'll take the laptop, thanks," says Connie still a little lost in thought.

"Here's the cord," says Mike as he hands her his spare laptop cord that he just pulled from a desk drawer.

Connie takes it and carefully avoids touching Mike's hand. When Mike hands her the closed laptop, Connie specifically takes the corner of the laptop as far away from Mike's hand as possible. Taking the final box from his office, Mike follows Connie to conference room D.

It's only when Mike closes the door to the conference room that Connie notices that all the shades are drawn. This is typical during normal business hours to cut down on the visual noise, but right now with a mostly empty office, it makes Connie feel off.

When she gets up to open up one of the shades, Mike jokes, "Afraid to be alone with me?"

"No, it's not that," says Connie a little too quickly. "I just wanted to get some natural light in."

If Mike notices something, he says nothing, but he looks at her for a moment before opening up his laptop to get it set up.

Because of the space available to them, they are working on cases individually and they each have their own section of the table to spread out the material for their case. When they are done, they then ask the other to review their work before putting a recommendation on the case and then the case goes back into the box. Each time they are finished with a box, they would bring it back to Mike's office. By working this way, they are able to get through nearly five cases before the end of the day. When Mike finishes reviewing Connie's latest case, it is past eight o'clock.

When he finishes writing a recommendation, Mike puts his pen down, stretches and asks casually, "Care to get a bite with me?"

Connie is surprised by the casualness of the request. This is something that she'd been half expecting Mike to ask for the past two weeks. The small part of her that has been nursing the growing attraction is thrilled by this and has hoped it might happen after what had occurred on the afternoon of Christmas Eve. The part of her that is concerned about the conflict of interest is wondering how to say no without hurting his feelings or cause an issue later. To buy herself some time, she continues her stretch and just as Mike adds, "Not like a date or anything," Connie hears herself say, "Sure, that'd be nice."

Mike reddens slightly. Connie can't quite look at him and repeats in a more quiet voice, "Sure, that'd be nice."

Connie starts to pack up the latest case and Mike shuts down his laptop. Before leaving the conference room with his closed laptop on the remaining box, he says, "I'll see you at your desk." Connie nods.

Connie then gathers her notebook, pen, laptop and cord and brings it to her desk where she sits to pack up. _ Did I just say yes to his request? What am I thinking! C'mon, it's just dinner. You've eaten dinner with him before. It's not like you're marrying him. He even said that it's not like a date or anything. Like hell he means it as not like a date. This is only going to lead to no good. What's not good about it? Have a little fun. What's your alternative? Reading a book or watching TV in your apartment?_

Connie is jostled out of her reverie when Mike says, "Connie? Are you ready?"

When Connie turns to look at Mike, he's already dressed for the weather and holding his briefcase, while she has just managed to lock her laptop in her drawer. "Sorry. Was just thinking about the last case I looked at," says Connie lying just a little.

"There were definite grounds for appeal," says Mike.

"Grounds for appeal," repeats Connie. "Yes. We will have to exhume the body for more tests."

"Hopefully something conclusive will come from that," Mike adds.

"I'll be ready in two minutes since I'm not planning to take something home to read for once," says Connie as she puts her notebook in a separate drawer before locking it. She then puts on her coat and knit cap quickly. Mike is getting antsy so he's been shifting from leg to leg almost imperceptibly but Connie notices. She notices everything now. When she's finished putting on her gloves, she picks up her briefcase and says, "Let's go."

As she and Mike walk to the elevators, Mike asks, "I thought all your family was in Brooklyn?"

"My sister moved to Miami last year to get away from her abusive husband. I guess he is her soon-to-be ex. They separated almost two year ago, but he wouldn't let it go. Restraining orders were violated and he was in jail for contempt, but after six months, she felt it would be better if she moved away."

It's then that the elevator opens for them. Connie steps in, followed by Mike, who as the elevator door closes says, "I'm sorry to hear about your sister."

"Well, she comes and visits with my nephew at Christmas, so it's not like we don't see her. Just not as often as we would like."

Mike makes a non-committal sound and that's the end of conversation in the elevator. In the enclosed space, she feels almost claustrophobic, but not exactly. Her senses are heightened and she swears that she can smell his cologne. Even though Mike is standing far enough away so that they both have their own personal space, there's an elephant in the room that they won't discuss, so the rest of the elevator ride is in silence, but because the rest of the building is empty, the ride down is quick and she and Mike are deposited in the lobby before they know it.

As they walk out of Hogan Place, Connie looks at Mike and says, "Lead the way."

* * *

They end up at a bar and grill that they've been to in the past for drinks a ten-minute walk away and dinner over drinks is surprisingly fun after they stop talking about work. Turns out Mike can be quite a conversationalist when it's a subject in which he's well-versed and interested in talking about and he's well-versed in a number of surprising topics like early-twentieth century literature and jazz music.

When the subject inevitably turns to baseball, Connie finds out that Mike plays in the office league in the summer. How she could have possibly missed that in the two years they've worked together she doesn't know, but she did. As it turns out, he knows some of the people she's worked with in the past at the DA's office. Knowing that Mike is a diehard Yankee's fan, Connie lets on that she comes from a Mets family though she herself doesn't know much about the game other than they hit the ball and run around the bases.

"Connie, baseball is way more than that," insists Mike. "Haven't you seen _Field of Dreams_?"

"Once nearly twenty years ago," says Connie somewhat absentmindedly. She's actually paying more attention to Mike himself. The brightness in his eyes when he's talking about something he's passionate about and the hand gestures he uses to help him emphasize the point. Hands that she could almost imagine on every part of her. As she's studying him, she notices that he doesn't shy away from direct eye contact when he's being persuasive and there is no doubt that she can see the sincerity of what he's saying. She certainly wouldn't mind being persuaded into doing certain things by him. _Stop it! He's your boss, regardless of how he's trying to connect with you outside of work._

"... So you see what I mean, right?" asks Mike breaking into her reverie.

_No, I have no idea what you mean because I have been spending the time watching you and wondering exactly what it would feel like to kiss you right now rather than listening to what you might have to say about baseball and Field of Dreams._ Trying to sound like she's been listening, Connie says, "Ummm. Yeah."

Mike noticing that Connie isn't really paying attention says, "I guess we should be going?"

Quickly glancing at her watch, Connie realizes that it's quarter-to-eleven and the last train that runs to her home station will be coming through here in a little over fifteen minutes and they still have yet to pay. "I didn't realize what time it was."

Sensing Connie's urgency, Mike says, "Let's go up to the bar and pay. It'll be faster."

Connie nods as she's getting out of the booth to put on her coat as Mike does the same.

After they pay their respective bills, Mike says "It's kind of late, let me walk you to your train."

Connie smiles and says, "Sure." That's when she feels Mike's hand at the small of her back guiding her out the door, but says nothing. Connie can't get over how good it feels.

As they walk to the subway station, they are walking closer than usual and their coats occasionally brush against one another. Neither say a word about it and continue to walk quickly, but each brush just heightens Connie's desire for more contact with Mike. Instead, they talk about the weather and what they should do to avoid the human traffic jam that will start early in the afternoon of December 31st as they are both planning to work that day.

As they get to the right platform for Connie's train, it's just arriving, so Connie says a quick goodbye before getting on. The last thing she sees as the subway enters the tunnel is Mike standing there looking straight at her as her train pulls away.

* * *

When Connie gets in early the next morning, Mike is already in as he office has the lights on and his coat is on his coat rack, though the man himself is nowhere to be seen. Before she can get through her morning routine, he comes by with a coffee for her. Putting the coffee down on her desk, he says, "Good morning."

"Good morning," says Connie as she turns to look at him. "Thanks for the coffee."

"I'll see you in conference room D," says Mike as he's walking away. "Can you bring another box?"

"Sure, I'll be there after I answer this," she calls out as he's already down the hall.

When she joins him less than five minutes later, he's working intently on his case with papers all laid out on his side of the table. Seeing how far he's gotten though it, she asks, "You must have gotten in early to have gotten that far."

"I was here before six this morning," says Mike as he's looking through a transcript. "Couldn't sleep." As he says this last sentence, he looks at her for a moment before going back to his transcript, which brings Connie back to her own insomnia. It was after two o'clock when she finally fell asleep and she was up again at five-thirty.

Once Connie gets set up, they work companionably until a little after lunch, which is ordered in and eaten as they worked. Around two-thirty, Mike is reviewing the case Connie has been going through and notices something that needs to be verified in the archives. They leave all the papers out on the conference table, since they will be back once they have what they need from the archives.

Mike brings his blackberry and Connie brings her notebook and pen. The guy behind the desk in the archives is not happy to see them. Normally, the week between Christmas and New Year is dead and he gets to cut out at three o'clock. But since they are there, he has to stay open until they leave or four o'clock, whichever is first.

Mike leads Connie to the back where there's a table to use. When they find the first bit of information they are looking for, Mike tries to take a picture of it with his Blackberry but the lighting isn't good enough and the flash isn't strong enough. Mike grumbles about the fact that his Blackberry doesn't work down here and how all of this should be scanned in, OCR'd, and indexed, so that it can be accessed on the office intranet. So he has Connie note the parts that he wants to photocopy, which Connie does when they get all they need out of a specific volume.

Inevitably, they are working closer than when they were upstairs and despite taking care to avoid skin-to-skin contact, occasionally their hands brush as one points out something they see as the other is holding the bound volume open. With each accidental touch, Mike's hand lingers slightly longer than the last, though never enough to be considered completely inappropriate, so Connie says nothing and the thrill Connie feels from the contact only grows stronger.

When they are talking about a specific discovery, Connie suddenly notices that Mike isn't answering her and when she looks up, he is staring at her intently. "God, you're beautiful," Mike whispers before he leans in to kiss her.

The kiss is soft and chaste but not hesitant and Connie responds eagerly, the part of her that has been wanting this since before Christmas, despite what she has been trying to convince herself, is cheering this new development. When Mike pulls back, he looks her in the eye as if to ask permission to kiss her again. When Connie nods almost imperceptibly, he caresses her cheek with the back of his hand, before leaning in to kiss her again. Connie adjusts her chair slightly to be more comfortable. They kiss for quite a while. If they weren't in the archives room, it might have led somewhere. As it is, they are taking a risk making out at work though a very small one because of the time and place, but it adds a thrill that Connie secretly finds exhilarating.

They finally pull apart when they hear the guy behind the desk shuffling something and remember where they are. Mike clears his throat and says, "I've been wanting to do that for a long time."

Connie looks at him and giggles a little, "Maybe we can continue this later, somewhere more private. In the mean time, you might want to clean my lipstick off your face." Connie pulls out a tissue from her pocket and hands it to Mike.

Looking at her watch, Connie says, "We only have twenty minutes before the archives close, since they are on reduced hours this week and I know for a fact that the man who works here would be happier if we left soon."

After wiping his face clean, Mike looks around and says, "I've been here for over nine hours and you've put in your eight. I think I'm ready to call it a day. You?"

"I don't think that we'll be much more productive today."

"OK. Why don't we go back to the office and pack up for the day? Did you want to come by and see my CD collection?" Connie knows it's a lame excuse but she doesn't care.

"Sure," says Connie. "I'd love to see it."

They put away the thick files quickly and exit the archives.

When they get back to the conference room, they just lock it up for the night rather than pack it up. They will be back tomorrow morning to continue their work.

Heading to his office, Mike says, "I'll be ready in two."

"OK," says Connie and she speed packs her stuff.

* * *

They take the subway to Mike's place as a taxi would be stuck in traffic at this hour even during this holiday week. On the subway, they are able to find seats together and as the train pulls away from the station, they talk about the most mundane things like the weather and Christmas carols as if nothing has changed except that everything has changed.

When they get to his apartment, Mike offers her a drink and they sit on his couch where he shows her his jazz CD collection and she's commenting as if she's interested in what he's talking about, but actually Connie is wondering when he will make a move. When they start to listen to the third CD in fifteen minutes, Mike shifts so that his arm is now around Connie's shoulder as if to retest the waters. Connie snuggles a little closer and Mike kisses her softly on the head but it doesn't stop there. Soon, they are kissing fervently, which leads to hands under shirts and sweaters. Both of them had dressed more casually than usual since court was not in session this week and it makes it easier for clothes to come off as they stumble into Mike's bedroom.

* * *

When they recover from their respective highs, Mike rolls them to their sides without pulling out, carefully ensuring that he doesn't crush Connie's leg. He then looks at Connie with total adoration, kisses Connie and says, "I love you so much. God, you're so beautiful." Mike then with his free hand caresses her cheek.

Connie looks at him and says with a shy smile, "Oh Mike!" She then snuggles closer in the warmth of his embrace. After being plagued by insomnia for several nights caused by the tension between them, they both fall asleep within minutes, secure in each other's embrace.

When they finally wake up a few hours later, the sun has definitely set. Mike has fallen out of Connie and the condom off of him leaving them lying in a wet spot on the sheets.

"Sorry," says Mike somewhat embarrassed by the situation. "I should have cleaned up afterward, but I wanted to savor that moment and remember what it felt like to make love to you for the first time. I guess the insomnia I've been having caught up with me and I fell asleep."

"It's alright," says Connie, smiling to reassure him. "Things happen. Anyway, I should get going."

"Unless you have somewhere you need to be right now, why don't we order something to eat for dinner. I don't know about you but I'm famished. The last time I ate was seven hours ago and I think that was the last time you ate as well so you must be at least hungry. Please?" Mike implored with his eyes as well.

Unable to resist Mike's imploring look, Connie against her better judgment says, "Alright. I'll help you change the sheets, while we wait. Got a t-shirt I could borrow?"

Mike goes to his bureau and pulls out a non-descript olive-green t-shirt for Connie and a navy one for himself. After pulling on the t-shirt, Connie pulls on her panties from the floor. When Mike finds his boxer, he takes it and the used condom with him into the ensuite bath and closes the door. Connie then starts to pick up the clothes that were discarded in a trail from the living room in their haste to get to the bedroom. She then separates them into a his and a hers pile on the bed. Mike comes out of the bathroom soon after she's done that and says, "What are you up for? I know where we can order almost any cuisine."

"Know of a good pizza place?" asks Connie.

"Yup," says Mike with a grin. "What do you like on your pizza?"

"Pepperoni, mushrooms, and green pepper. You?"

"Pepperoni and pineapple."

"Hawaiian?" asks Connie.

"No, not ham and pineapple," says Mike. "Pepperoni and pineapple. A TV show I used to watch in law school had a character order it once. I figured I'd try it and it was so good that it's been my favorite set of toppings since. Let's order half a pie with your ingredients and half a pie with my ingredients and we can spend the rest of the evening convincing one another which is better. What did you want to drink? I've got some cans of soda and most of a six-pack of beer or we can order something with the pizza?"

"Beer's fine."

After Mike orders their dinner, Connie helps him strip the wet sheets and and put on a clean set. Soon thereafter, their pizza arrives and Connie has to admit to herself that it does smell good. _Must go home after I eat. I just had sex with my boss and I'm wearing his t-shirt. I must be insane. Eat and leave. He won't be hurt by your wanting to leave after that._

"Let's eat," says Mike as he puts the pizza box and a couple of beers on the coffee table.

Connie sits beside Mike and pulls out a slice of pizza. Mike turns on the TV and finds them a movie to watch while they eat. After a couple of bottles of beer and a few of slices of pizza, in the middle of a commercial, Connie turns to look at Mike and he leans in to kiss her. Connie is initially surprised but she responds in kind when she remembers how good the sex was the first time. The next thing Connie knows is that the TV is muted and they are making out on Mike's couch for the second time in the last six hours.

* * *

After they both fall from their lovemaking high, Connie collapses on Mike. Once they recover from it, Connie rolls off of Mike, lifts herself off the bed by her elbows and says, "I better get going."

Mike shifts so that he is facing her. As he is tracing his fingers on her cleavage, he says, "Can't you stay?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Mike," says Connie as she wills herself to get out of bed knowing that if she didn't, she would still be there in the morning and possibly more mornings than is good at the moment.

"I don't think less of you professionally, you know," says Mike as he looks down at the sheets where she was just a minute ago.

"It still doesn't change the fact that you're still my boss," says Connie as she gets dressed in the clothes she came with that afternoon.

"It doesn't change the fact that I love you either," says Mike with a slight hint of bitterness.

_"_Good night, Mike," says Connie as she folds the t-shirt that Mike lent her earlier in the evening and puts it on the bed. "I can show myself out. I'll see you tomorrow." _Because if you try to show me out, I won't be able to get out._

Connie spends most of her way home berating herself for sleeping with Mike not once but twice. _Didn't the affair with Marcus teach you anything about the perils of sleeping with your boss? Don't you know this could all end very badly? At least he thought of using a condom both times, so you don't have to worry about those issues._ Connie leans her head on the wall behind her subway seat and closes her eyes. _This is completely reckless._ Connie then feels the ghost of Mike's hands all over her and yearns to feel it again. _You are in so much trouble._

When Connie gets back to her apartment, a tiredness has descended on her and she only has enough energy to get ready for bed. She's even too tired to read a magazine and is asleep almost before her head hits the pillow. She sleeps peacefully until her alarm wakes her the next morning.

**A/N2:** So did I do it justice? This is the first story I've written that centers on getting an OTP together. It's not a point in time in a relationship that I tend to tread. I also know that I couldn't have written this prologue before I wrote as much of Courtship as I have. I hoped that I've balanced Connie's concerns from Courtship well enough. Let me know what you think. Reviews are much appreciated. As per usual, an M-rated version of this story is located on my website in my profile. If you're into that, enjoy!


	2. Prologue: Mike

**A/N:** Here is Mike's point of view of the same events of the previous chapter. Many thanks to my beta, Tripp3235, for her quick review despite her busy schedule.

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. All Law and Order characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. I'm just playing with them.

**Offices of the District Attorney, One Hogan Place, Monday, December 28**

Mike comes into the office more tired than when he left on Christmas Eve. On that fateful afternoon, on impulse, he had taken Connie's hand, looked into her eyes and said, "Merry Christmas, Connie," and she didn't move it away until they heard another office door close in different part of the DA's office and broke the moment. After that, Connie wished him a Merry Christmas and left before he could say anything else to her.

That scene played in his head over and over again during those three long days. It played while he was watching _It's a Wonderful Life_ on TV, it played when he was having Chinese take out for Christmas dinner, and it played when he was at the gym yesterday to clear his head. The worst part was when the scene played every time he closed his eyes to try to go to sleep. He couldn't even concentrate on the work he did bring home and it would have been pathetic for him to go into the office on Christmas weekend when everyone else had somewhere to be.

Mike admits that he's been thinking naughty thoughts about Connie since soon after he met her. She's gorgeous. What red-blooded man wouldn't? Mike also admits that those thoughts had taken a romantic turn some time ago, but he swears that the tension in the air didn't start until Marcus Woll came into their lives in October. It had come on so gradually that Mike didn't take notice until he had spent several nights in a row working on Woll's convictions with Connie, when suddenly all non-work conversations between them seemed awkward and even some work conversations. The confident, self-assured EADA became the tongue-tied boy who was sweet on the girl he sat next to in class.

When Monday comes, Mike is extremely happy that he could get back to work where he could hopefully focus on something other than that final conversation with Connie. Last night, he had not fallen asleep until sometime after midnight, even after he had taken a shower to relieve his thoughts. After he awoke at five o'clock, he headed straight to the gym before heading into the office. However, he isn't sure if being in the office was going to be fruitful since it was here that the whole thing happened, but it's better than staring at the walls of his apartment waiting for time to pass.

When Connie comes in around eight-thirty, Mike has been going through the legal briefs for the Edwards case for about an hour. He could hear her put her briefcase down on her desk but chooses not to look up until she walks to the door of his office.

"Good Morning," says Connie as she leans on his doorframe. Her lithe figure is accentuated by the slacks and sweater she is wearing, is awakening various parts of his anatomy that makes him very glad that he is behind his desk. There is no court outside of arraignments this week so it is an opportunity to catch up on some paperwork and everybody dresses down. He barely hears her when she says, "I, um, have a couple of arraignments at nine o'clock. Are we resuming Woll work after I get back?"

Covering up quickly, Mike smiles and says, "Good Morning. Sounds like a plan. Have a good holiday with your family?"

Connie smiles and says, "My sister came up from Miami, so it was nice to see all the nieces and nephews. Good holiday for you?"

Mike can only concentrate on her smile and manages to say, "Hmm. The usual," before looking back down at the legal brief in front of him to avoid staring at her face and various portions of her anatomy that are wreaking havoc on him.

"See you later then," says Connie as she turns to go get ready for the arraignments.

"Later," says Mike as he takes the opportunity to admire her behind as she walks back to her desk. He had been fantasizing about that behind for a while now. It was so close and yet so far. After Connie leaves, Mike allows his mind to wander to places that it had no business going in the office. Mike is jostled out of his fantasy when a phone rings for one of the absent paralegals outside his office. He shifts in his seat and focuses anew on the legal brief in front of him that he's reread for the fourth time since Connie's arrival at the office.

* * *

When Connie comes back, Mike is just finishing the legal brief that he has been working on since eight thirty that morning. She leans on his doorway again and he is forced to look up and ask, "How did they go?"

Connie shrugs and says, "One was ROR and the other was a remand. Ready for Woll work?"

"Give me five minutes to finish up this thing for the Edwards case and we can meet in conference room D. No one is going to be using them this week. We might as well spread out our work."

"OK," says Connie. "I'll set up my laptop there and then I'll come back to help you with the boxes." They had gotten through about half of the 50 or so boxes of material for appeals that have come to the DA's office since Woll's arrest in October. They expect a few more to come still as they cannot account for all 102 convictions.

Mike finishes up the brief as quickly as he can, makes a few more notes and files it before picking up a box just as Connie gets back to his office. As he hands it to her, their fingers accidentally brush and the static electricity that passes between them is so intense that it causes Connie nearly to drop the box and involuntarily gasp.

"Sorry. Are you alright?" Mike asks, worried that he hurt Connie somehow. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, no," says Connie. "It's just a little static electricity and the box is a little heavier than I had expected."

Concerned, Mike asks, "Do you need help? Maybe you should take this lighter one."

"No, it's OK," says Connie with a smile. "I can manage." Mike sees Connie steady herself and walk to the conference room. Mike follows right behind her in case she has more trouble.

After putting their boxes down on the table beside Connie's laptop, they start to walk back. Connie is massaging the hand that he had touched and Mike asks, "Are you sure you're OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. How many more boxes did we want to bring to the conference room?"

"I think one more box should be sufficient for today and I'll bring my laptop."

When they get back to his office, Mike asks over his shoulder as he walks behind his desk, "Did you want to bring the box or my laptop?" When there is no reply, Mike looks up to see Connie massaging the hand that touched off the spark between them. Concerned, he asks, "Connie?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you whether you wanted to bring the box or my laptop," says Mike as he is closing the laptop and unhooking it from the docking station.

"I'll take the laptop, thanks," says Connie.

"Here's the cord," says Mike as he hands her his spare laptop cord that he just pulled from a desk drawer.

Mike notices that when Connie takes it, she is carefully avoiding touching his hand. When he hands her the closed laptop, Connie specifically takes the corner of the laptop as far away from Mike's hand as possible. Though Mike raises an eyebrow to this, Connie doesn't notice and Mike just takes a mental note. Taking the final box from his office, Mike follows Connie to conference room D.

After Mike puts down the box on the table, he instinctively closes the door to the conference room to avoid noisy distractions such as door closings and ringing phones that echo in the nearly empty office. As Mike is opening the box, Connie quickly gets up to open one of the shades. Mike nervously jokes, "Afraid to be alone with me?"

"No, it's not that," says Connie rather quickly. "I just wanted to get some natural light in."

_So I'm not the only one who was affected by what happened on Christmas Eve. I need to make a move soon._ He looks at her for a moment as his brain processes this new development before opening up his laptop to get it set up.

Because of the space available to them, they are working on cases individually and they each have their own section of the table to spread out the material for their case. When they are done, they then ask the other to review their work before putting a recommendation on the case and then the case goes back into the box. Each time they are finished with a box, they would bring it back to Mike's office. By working this way, they are able to get through nearly five cases before the end of the day. When Mike finishes reviewing Connie's latest case, it is past eight o'clock.

When he finishes writing a recommendation, Mike puts his pen down, stretches and asks as casually as he can make it sound, "Care to get a bite with me?" _Please say yes._

Connie is also stretching. When she doesn't respond immediately, Mike is nervous and he quickly adds, "Not like a date or anything," just as Connie finally says, "Sure, that'd be nice."

Mike feels himself redden slightly at saying something that ridiculous. Connie doesn't look up and repeats in a more quiet voice, "Sure, that'd be nice."

Mike shuts down his laptop to avoid looking at Connie in his embarrassment and Connie starts to pack up the latest case. After he puts his closed laptop on the remaining box, he can't help but smile and says, "I'll see you at your desk." Connie nods.

_She said yes!_ The inside Mike is dancing a jig, while the outside Mike is nearly running to his desk to lock up his laptop and get quickly dressed for the weather._ This is the chance to make topics outside of work less awkward again, show her the real Mike Cutter. It shouldn't be hard. It's not like you've been on anything but a self-imposed drought the last year in hopes of getting Connie to pay attention and the women you've slept with since meeting her two years ago have been anything more than a substitute for her. But as a rule, you don't sleep with people you work with. It just gets too complicated. But this is Connie Rubirosa, the one who took your breath away the day you met her._ Mike smiles as he reminisces about the meeting when Jack introduce her to him while he buttons up his coat and closes his nearly empty briefcase. Mike's more rational thoughts jolts him out of his reverie. _She is the perfect woman, this may be your only chance. Don't waste it._

When Mike gets to Connie's desk, she's just locking the desk drawer. _That's not a good sign. Please don't find an excuse to get out of it._ To avoid just standing there beside her desk, Mike says, "Connie? Are you ready?"

Connie turns to look at Mike, smiles apologetically and says, "Sorry. Was just thinking about the last case I looked at."

Thinking quickly, Mike says, "There were definite grounds for appeal."

"Grounds for appeal," repeats Connie. "Yes. We will have to exhume the body for more tests."

"Hopefully something conclusive will come from that," Mike adds as he is getting antsy to get going.

"I'll be ready in two minutes since I'm not planning to take something home to read for once," says Connie as she puts her notebook in a separate drawer before locking it. She then puts on her coat and knit cap quickly. When she's finished putting on her gloves, she picks up her briefcase and says, "Let's go."

As he and Connie walk to the elevators, Mike asks, "I thought all your family was in Brooklyn?"

"My sister moved to Miami last year to get away from her abusive husband," says Connie as she looks at him with a slight smile that nearly melts Mike's insides. "I guess he is her soon-to-be ex. They separated almost two year ago, but he wouldn't let it go. Restraining orders were violated and he was in jail for contempt, but after six months, she felt it would be better if she moved away."

It's then that the elevator opens for them. Mike lets Connie go in first and then follows her. As the elevator door closes, Mike says, "I'm sorry to hear about your sister."

"Well, she comes and visits with my nephew at Christmas, so it's not like we don't see her. Just not as often as we would like," says Connie wistfully.

Mike, not exactly sure what to say to that, makes a non-committal sound and that ends the conversation. In the elevator, Mike is feeling elated that Connie still wants to eat dinner with him after what happened three days ago, so he is mentally running through a list of topics at dinner that would put him in a good light rather than thinking about talking to her right now. Since the rest of the building is empty, the ride down is quick and he and Connie are deposited in the lobby before they know it.

As they walk out of Hogan Place, Connie looks at Mike and says, "Lead the way."

* * *

They end up at a bar and grill that they've been to in the past for drinks a ten-minute walk away and dinner over drinks goes surprisingly well after they stop talking about work. They talk about jazz music and early-twentieth century literature. They even get into a debate about who is better F. Scott Fitzgerald or D. H. Lawrence.

When the subject inevitably turns to baseball, Mike tells her about the office league he plays in the summer and is surprised to learn that they know some mutual people at the DA's office. Mike is alarmed to learn that Connie comes from a Mets family, as he is a diehard Yankees fan.

"Don't they just hit the ball and run around the bases?" says Connie when Mike is telling her about what baseball is about.

"Connie, baseball is way more than that," insists Mike. "Haven't you seen _Field of Dreams_?"

"Once nearly twenty years ago," says Connie.

As Mike explains how baseball's allure and its essence in entrenched in that movie, he really notices how beautiful Connie's smile can be and how a sparkle appears in her eyes when her smile reaches there. Despite it being late in the evening and how tired she must be from working all day, Mike can still see the beauty that radiates from her. Mike is encouraged by being with her that he talks on longer about baseball than he realizes. It's when he says, "... So you see what I mean, right?" and Connie responses with an "Ummm. Yeah," a beat late that Mike notices Connie isn't really paying attention any more. So he counters with, "I guess we should be going?"

Connie quickly glances at her watch and says with a look of masked alarm, "I didn't realize what time it was."

Sensing Connie's urgency, Mike says, "Let's go up to the bar and pay. It'll be faster."

Connie nods as she's getting out of the booth to put on her coat as Mike does the same.

After they pay their respective bills, Mike says "It's kind of late, let me walk you to your train."

Connie smiles and says, "Sure." That's when Mike makes his first move and places his hands at the small of her back guiding her out the door. Seeing that Connie isn't flinching from his touch, a smile dawns on Mike's face as he helps her out the door.

As they walk to the subway station, they are walking closer than usual and their coats occasionally brush against one another. Neither say a word about it and continue to walk quickly, but each brush just heightens Mike's desire for more contact with Connie. Instead, they talk about the weather and what they should do to avoid the human traffic jam that will start early in the afternoon of December 31st as they are both planning to work that day.

As they get to the right platform for Connie's train, it's just arriving, so Connie smiles and says a quick goodbye before getting on. As the train pulls away, Mike looks straight at her until the subway train enters the tunnel and out of his sight, only then does Mike move to get to his own train.

* * *

Mike is back at the office at a quarter-to-six the next morning, having woken up just before five o'clock. Normally a trip into the office takes twenty-five minutes but today at 5:25, it took him just over fifteen minutes from his apartment to his office. _If you keep this up, you'll be saving an hour every week._ With nothing resolved between him and Connie, sleep last night eluded him longer than he would have liked. Fortunately, the coffee shop down the street opens at six o'clock and once he gets a box of files and his laptop set up in the conference room, he heads down to get a cup. _It might help me focus._

Once he gets back to the office, he manages to plow through one case before his cup is empty. By this time, the coffee stand in front of Hogan Place is open and he gets two coffees as he figures that Connie would be in soon and might appreciate one. Sure enough, when he returns she is at her desk, so he places the second coffee on her desk and says, "Good Morning."

"Good morning," says Connie as she turns to look at him. "Thanks for the coffee." She looks as radiant as she did when he last saw her less than ten hours ago, this time in jeans and a different sweater. The combination of which makes it suddenly extremely difficult to swallow amongst other anatomical changes, so he turns away quickly to avoid Connie seeing a physical change at the front of his pants. As he walks away, he manages somehow to say in a normal tone, "I'll see you in conference room D. Can you bring another box?"

"Sure, I'll be there after I answer this," she calls out to him.

When he gets to the conference room, he sits down as close to the table as possible without it looking like he's trying to hide something. Still unable to hide the bulge in his pants, Mike quickly drops some papers from the case on his lap as he hears Connie approach.

When she gets into the room, she asks, "You must have gotten in early to have gotten that far."

"I was here before six this morning," says Mike as he's pretending to look through a transcript. "Couldn't sleep." As he says this last sentence, he looks at her for a moment before going back to his work, not wanting to dwell on how she looks in those jeans and the sweater.

Once Connie gets set up, they work companionably until a little after lunch, which is ordered in and eaten as they worked. Around two-thirty, Mike is reviewing the case Connie has been going through and notices something that needs to be verified in the archives. They leave all the papers out on the conference table, since they will be back once they have what they need from the archives.

Mike brings his blackberry and Connie brings her notebook and pen. The guy behind the desk in the archives is not happy to see them. Normally, the week between Christmas and New Year is dead and he gets to cut out at three o'clock. But since they are there, he has to stay open until they leave or four o'clock whichever is first.

Mike leads Connie to the back where there's a table to use. When they find the first bit of information they are looking for, Mike tries to take a picture of it with his Blackberry but the lighting isn't good enough and the flash isn't strong enough. Mike is unhappy that his Blackberry doesn't work down here and comments that the archives should be scanned in, OCR'd, and indexed, so that it can be accessed on the office intranet. So he asks Connie to note the parts that he wants to photocopy, which Connie does when they get all they need out of a specific volume.

Inevitably, they are working closer than when they were upstairs and despite taking care to avoid skin-to-skin contact, occasionally their hands brush as one points out something they see as the other is holding the bound volume open. With each accidental touch, Mike's hand lingers slightly longer than the last to test the waters, though never enough to be considered completely inappropriate, so when Connie says nothing, Mike is emboldened to make his move here. _It's secluded and the ventilation fans are loud enough to cover our words if things don't work out and our noises if they do. It's now or never._

When they are talking about a specific discovery, Mike sees his opportunity. Looking at Connie intently, Mike's heart skips a beat when she suddenly stops talking and looks up at him with the most beautiful expression. Realizing that this is the moment, Mike whispers, "God, you're beautiful," before leaning in to kiss her.

Mike places a soft, chaste and firm kiss on Connie's lips and when she responds eagerly, Mike's heart soars. He has been wanting this for so long and it's finally coming true. _If this is a dream, please let no one wake me up._ When Mike pulls back, he looks her in the eye as if to ask permission to kiss her again. When Connie nods almost imperceptibly, he caresses her cheek with the back of his hand, before leaning in to kiss her again. Connie adjusts her chair slightly to be more comfortable. They kiss for quite a while. If they weren't in the archives room, it might have led somewhere. As it is, they are taking a risk making out at work though a very small one because of the time and place, but Mike couldn't care less at the moment and just enjoys the feel of Connie's lips on his. If he died now, he would be happy.

They finally pull apart when they hear the guy behind the desk shuffling something and remember where they are. Mike clears his throat and says, "I've been wanting to do that for a long time."

Connie looks at him and giggles a little, "Maybe we can continue this later, somewhere more private. In the mean time, you might want to clean my lipstick off your face." Connie pulls out a tissue from her pocket and hands it to Mike.

Looking at her watch, Connie says, "We only have twenty minutes before the archives close, since they are on reduced hours this week and I know for a fact that the man who works here would be happier if we left soon."

After wiping his face clean, Mike looks around and says, "I've been here for over nine hours and you've put in your eight. I think I'm ready to call it a day. You?"

"I don't think that we'll be much more productive today."

"OK. Why don't we go back to the office and pack up for the day? Did you want to come by and see my CD collection?" Mike flinches at the utterly lame excuse.

"Sure," says Connie. "I'd love to see it."

They put away the thick files quickly and exit the archives.

When they get back to the conference room, they just lock it up for the night rather than pack it up. They will be back tomorrow morning to continue their work.

Heading to his office, Mike says, "I'll be ready in two."

"OK," says Connie as she starts packing her stuff.

* * *

They take the subway to Mike's place, as a taxi would be stuck in traffic at this hour even during this holiday week. On the subway, they are able to find seats together and as the train pulls away from the station, they talk about the most mundane things like the weather and Christmas carols as if nothing has changed except that everything has changed.

When they get to his apartment, he offers Connie a drink and they sit on his couch where he shows her his jazz CD collection. She comments on what he's talking about and Mike is pondering when to make his move. _This isn't the first time you've done this, why are you so nervous? It's Connie we're talking about here. I want to do it right._ When they start to listen to the third CD in fifteen minutes, Mike decides that now is the time and shifts so that his arm is now around Connie's shoulder to retest the waters. Connie snuggles a little closer to Mike's delight and Mike kisses her softly on the head and can't stop. Soon, they are kissing fervently, which leads to hands under shirts and sweaters. Both of them had dressed more casually than usual since court was not in session this week and it makes it easier for clothes to come off as they stumble into Mike's bedroom.

* * *

When they recover from their respective highs, Mike rolls them to their sides without pulling out, carefully ensuring that he doesn't crush Connie's leg. He then looks at Connie adoringly, kisses her and says, "I love you so much. God, you're so beautiful." Mike then with his free hand caresses her cheek.

Connie looks at him with a shy smile and says, "Oh Mike!" She then snuggles closer in the warmth of his embrace. After being plagued by insomnia for several nights caused by the tension between them, they both fall asleep within minutes, secure in each other's embrace.

When they finally wake up a few hours later, the sun has definitely set. Mike has fallen out of Connie and the condom off of him leaving them lying in a wet spot on the sheets.

"Sorry," says Mike somewhat embarrassed by the situation. "I should have cleaned up afterward, but I wanted to savor that moment and remember what it felt like to make love to you for the first time. I guess the insomnia I've been having caught up with me and I fell asleep."

"It's alright," says Connie with a smile. "Things happen. Anyway, I should get going."

Desperate to keep her at his apartment longer, Mike says the first thing that comes to mind. "Unless you have somewhere you need to be right now, why don't we order something to eat for dinner. I don't know about you but I'm famished. The last time I ate was seven hours ago and I think that was the last time you ate as well so you must be at least hungry. Please?" Mike implored with his eyes as well.

It seems like an eternity before Connie says, "Alright. I'll help you change the sheets, while we wait. Got a t-shirt I could borrow?"

Mike quickly goes to his bureau and pulls out a non-descript olive-green t-shirt for Connie and a navy one for himself. After pulling on the t-shirt, Connie pulls on her panties from the floor. When Mike finds his boxer, he takes it and the used condom with him into the ensuite bath and closes the door.

Inside the bathroom, Mike disposes of the condom and quickly cleans up. Looking at his reflection in the mirror as he gets dress, he can't help but grin. _You just had amazing sex with the most beautiful woman and she's willing to stay for dinner. How did you get so lucky? Don't question it and just keep going and don't keep her waiting too long._ Mike quickly brushes his teeth before leaving the bathroom. When Mike comes out of the bathroom, he asks, "What are you up for? I know where we can order almost any cuisine."

"Know of a good pizza place?" asks Connie.

"Yup," says Mike with a grin. "What do you like on your pizza?"

"Pepperoni, mushrooms, and green pepper. You?"

"Pepperoni and pineapple."

"Hawaiian?" asks Connie.

"No, not ham and pineapple," says Mike. "Pepperoni and pineapple. A TV show I used to watch in law school had a character order it once. I figured I'd try it and it was so good that it's been my favorite set of toppings since. Let's order half a pie with your ingredients and half a pie with my ingredients and we can spend the rest of the evening convincing one another which is better. What did you want to drink? I've got some cans of soda and most of a six-pack of beer or we can order something with the pizza?"

"Beer's fine."

After Mike orders their dinner, Connie helps him strip the wet sheets and and put on a clean set. Soon thereafter, their pizza arrives and the pizza smells really good.

"Let's eat," says Mike as he puts the pizza box and a couple of beers on the coffee table.

Connie sits beside Mike and pulls out a slice of pizza. Mike turns on the TV and finds them a movie to watch while they eat. After a couple of bottles of beer and a few of slices of pizza, in the middle of a commercial, Connie turns to look at Mike and unable to resist, he leans in to kiss her. Connie seems hesitant at first but she responds in kind very soon after. Mike quickly mutes the TV and they are making out on the couch for the second time in the last six hours.

* * *

After they both fall from their lovemaking high, Connie collapses on Mike. Once they recover from it, to Mike's surprise Connie rolls off of Mike, lifts herself off the bed by her elbows and says, "I better get going." He had hopes that she would stay the night after the second time.

Mike shifts so that he is facing her. As he is tracing his fingers on her cleavage, he says, "Can't you stay?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Mike," says Connie as she moves his hand out of the way and gets out of bed.

_Don't say that, Connie. _"I don't think less of you professionally, you know," says Mike as he looks down at the sheets where she was just a minute ago. Not feeling confident enough to look at her.

"It still doesn't change the fact that you're still my boss," says Connie as she gets dressed in the clothes she came with that afternoon.

"It doesn't change the fact that I love you either," says Mike as he tries to keep the bitterness out of his voice and fails. It's then that he finally getting enough courage to look at her.

"Good night, Mike," says Connie as she folds the t-shirt that Mike lent her earlier in the evening and puts it on the bed. "I can show myself out. I'll see you tomorrow."

Mike doesn't move from his position until he hears Connie close the apartment door. As he pads to the bathroom to clean up, he scratches his head and wonders what happened. _What did I do wrong? Did I push too far by telling her I love her? Maybe she's having reservations like I did about sleeping with people you work with. But she slept with Woll. And look where it got her. Good point._

After getting cleaned up, Mike goes to lock his apartment door and tidies up a little before getting a glass of water to rehydrate. When he is done, a tiredness has descended on him, so he turns off all the lights in the apartment and goes right back to bed. He's even too tired to read a book and is asleep almost before his head hits the pillow. He sleeps peacefully until his alarm wakes him the next morning.

**A/N2:** So did I do Mike justice? Did I manage to provide Mike a point of view that is radically different than Connie's even though they are the same event? Did I make Mike sound male enough? I'm merely using the knowledge I have gleaned from having been married to one for over fifteen years. Jane Austen never wrote scenes involving males only as she felt she didn't know enough about what occurs when there was no female about. In any case, let me know what you think and leave me a review. They are greatly appreciated.


End file.
